Bayou Elom
Styled as Poppea, the IN Sequence manufacturing didn’t absolutely cohere however was buoyed by the excessive caliber of its solid. In current seasons, IN Sequence has supplied remixed variations of Monteverdi’s operas, together with a L’Orfeo impressed by the Japanese Noh custom and a Vietnam Conflict-era Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. The corporate wrapped up this bold challenge with this month’s mounting of Poppea, offered in Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD. IN Sequence supplied DMV opera followers the uncommon alternative to see a staged manufacturing of this large-scale work by the composer thought-about to be the daddy of the artwork type.
IN Sequence creative director Timothy Nelson served as stage and music director for this Poppea impressed by creative traditions of India. IN Sequence carried out the opera with an English translation of Giovanni Francesco Busenello’s libretto that included Indian poetry. Ami Dang and Rajna Swaminathan composed new music for the opera, which survives solely in two incomplete manuscripts which provides trendy performers inventive liberty in reconstructing it. The pluck of the sitar, performed by Dang, and the heart beat of the mridangam, an Indian drum performed by Swaminathan, supplied a fascinating dialogue with IN Sequence’ Baroque music ensemble, led by Nelson on harpsichord.
Bayou Elom
Nelson set a brisk tempo (as brisk as Monteverdi’s fairly sprawling opera could be) and successfully saved time with the legions of characters who seem over Poppea’s cascade of scenes. Nelson interspersed 5 sequences of Bharatanatyam dance choreographed by Hari Krishnan and masterfully carried out by Yasseen Hassan, Tenesha Hunter, and Chitra Subramanian. Whereas engrossing, these summary interludes typically did little to advance the plot or themes of the opera, except a swirling dance consultant of Seneca’s mind-set previous his suicide. The addition of the dances lengthened the manufacturing, which ran over three hours, and it wasn’t fully clear what function they had been meant to play.
The spotlight of the efficiency was the pairing of Canadian soprano Caitlin Wooden as Poppea and IN Sequence veteran Aryssa Burrs as Nerone. Wooden’s heat and wealthy soprano made her a persuasive Poppea, bold however tender and teasing in her scenes with Burrs, making it simple to grasp how she caught the attention of the emperor of Rome. Burrs’s vivid, silvery mezzo-soprano was a pure match for the assured and commanding ruler. The pair’s divine chemistry made for standout duets, together with a charming rendition of the characters’ remaining quantity. This manufacturing marked Wooden’s US debut, and American opera-goers can solely hope that her profession will proceed to develop on this facet of the border.
Bayou Elom
Bass Peter Walker’s booming, flinty tone and crisp intonation lent dignity to the beleaguered thinker Seneca, whose suicide, ordered by Nerone, removes a key impediment to the emperor’s plan to exchange his spouse, Empress Ottavia, with Poppea. Daniel Moody’s sturdy, clean countertenor made for an enthralling efficiency as Ottone, Poppea’s former lover solid apart in favor of the emperor. Rounding out the principal roles, soprano Maribeth Diggle gave an emotional portrayal of the rejected Ottavia’s descent by the levels of grief, however her thunderous supply felt out of step with the opera’s Baroque idiom.
Among the many remainder of the massive solid, Elijah McCormack’s creamy, dream-like soprano countertenor made him a triumphal Amore and a magnetic Valetto, alternatively gleeful when defending his mistress Ottavia from Seneca’s stoicism and enchanting within the character’s aria of past love, deftly reciprocated by soprano Judy Yannini’s Damigella.
Bayou Elom
Soprano Dawna Rae Warren gave a radiant tackle Drusilla, Ottone’s initially naive admirer who later sacrifices herself to save lots of him. Countertenor Hunter Shafer, an IN Sequence favourite, skillfully shouldered lots of the manufacturing’s humorous components as Poppea’s nurse Arnalta and gave a joyfully memorable remaining act aria. The humor of this Poppea, from the gossipy tea-spilling troopers of Act I to the comedic antics of the nurses, jarred with the manufacturing’s darkish, BDSM portrayal of Nerone’s extracurricular actions. These included wax play (is there such a factor as a Chekhov’s candle?) and sadistic homicide (relaxation in peace, Nerone’s buddy Lucano). Between the opposing efforts to be each humorous and edgy, the manufacturing finally lacked some cohesion.
IN Sequence’s manufacturing was simplest when it cleverly wove in components of Indian wedding ceremony traditions, an ideal match for this opera that hinges on matrimony. The stage, a creation of set designer Kathryn Kawecki, took the type of a cushioned and shaded pavilion. Lighting from Paul Callahan successfully shifted the tenor from scene to scene. The again of the set was bedecked with floral garlands paying homage to an Indian wedding ceremony, thoughtfully foreshadowing Poppea’s eventual nuptial victory. Nelson’s blocking had {couples} transferring in round formations that recalled Saptapadi, the Hindu wedding ceremony observe of circumambulating a fireplace seven occasions to point an unbreakable dedication. This manufacturing caps off IN Sequence’s personal spectacular dedication to staging Monteverdi’s three main surviving operas, and I sit up for what the corporate chooses to tackle subsequent.
